PEOPLE & PRINT

Messalina, the Sex-Obsessed wife of Claudius.

Valeria Messalina was the third wife of emperor Claudius. She was notorious for being an absolute nymphomaniac.

She married Claudius in A.D. 38 and they had two children, who were rumoured to have actually been fathered by Caligula as she was a frequent attendee to his many banquets and orgies.

After Caligula was finally murdered, Messalina, although now empress, did not suppress her urges.

At night she would even dress up as a prostitute and incognito she would trade as a prostitute – such was her insatiable appetite for men.

She once challenged the famous Roman prostitute, Scylla, to a sex-athon, whereby the winner was the one who copulated with the most men.

The competition lasted for 24 hours and Messalina won with a score of 25 partners.

In 48 A.D. she plotted with one of her lovers, Sillius, to have Claudius murdered and even had a secret marriage ceremony with him. However, one of Claudius’s advisors Narcissus, exposed the plot to him.

Claudius was heartbroken and could hardly believe his own ears, but was eventually persuaded to have her and Sillius promptly executed.

Messalina was given the option of suicide but she could not bring herself to take her own life.